Backers of Challenge to Gay-Marriage Ban Rally in Detroit

DETROIT - Supporters of a lesbian couple who are challenging Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage are planning a rally outside Detroit's federal courthouse.

The group Equality Michigan says it expects several hundred people at the protest at 8 a.m. Monday, which comes as a trial resumes in U.S. District Court.Michigan voters banned gay marriage in 2004. In a lawsuit, Detroit-area nurses April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse say that violates the U.S. Constitution.

Michigan authorities are preparing to present their defense of the law. The state witness list includes economists and sociologists.

The state has defended the constitutional amendment as a way to promote stable families through households led by a man and a woman.

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Michigan’s nearly decade-old ban on gay marriage is going to trial Tuesday, with two weeks set aside for testimony from experts about whether there’s a legitimate state interest in restricting marriage to a man and a woman.